John Cox on Immigration

Republican Party Chair, Cook County (IL)

Excessive multiculturalism weakens American culture

Q: Do you agree that the excessive use of multiculturalism is weakening the unique American culture that has historically shaped the identity of America, and will lead to a harmful balkanization and unnecessary divisions among the citizenry?

HUCKABEE: Yes.

TANCREDO: Yes.

COX: Yes.

BROWNBACK: Yes.

PAUL: Yes.

HUNTER: Yes.

KEYES: Yes.

Source: 2007 GOP Values Voter Presidential Debate
Sep 17, 2007

Rescind Bush's order allowing Mexican trucks on US roads

Q: Allowing Mexican trucks into our country brings unsafe equipment driven by people unable to communicate in English, read highway signs, or even know our laws. This creates a serious safety concern and undermines American jobs.
Bill Clinton successfully kept Mexican trucks off US highways. Will you rescind Pres. Bush's order to allow Mexican onto US roads?

Oppose amnesty & guest workers until unemployment under 5%

Q: Will you oppose all plans for amnesty, path to citizenship, guest workers, and seasonal passes until the very high unemployment rate of our own minority youth has dropped to 5%?

COX: Can we oppose amnesty in any circumstance?

HUCKABEE: Yes.

TANCREDO: Yes.

COX: Yes.

BROWNBACK: No.

PAUL: Yes.

HUNTER: Yes.

KEYES: Yes.

BROWNBACK: I agree on opposing amnesty. On the guest worker provision, I think there are places, and particularly in industries like agriculture,
that we should use guest worker programs.

COX: I oppose amnesty because it doesn't work. It's not going to solve the problem. It's only going to encourage more illegal behavior.

TANCREDO: Listen, amnesty is the worst possible public policy you
can ever have. It rewards illegal behavior, it encourages more of it, and it's a slap in the face of every single person who as done it the right way. We should never, ever have amnesty.

No guest worker program; it creates second class citizens

Q: Will you oppose guest workers?

COX: I oppose a guest worker program. We don't want to create a second class of citizens in this country. We want people who come to America to ultimately be Americans. At the same time, we ought to make sure that
we send the people home who have cut in line, but we've got to make sure that we bring the people in who are waiting in line, and waiting for the bureaucracy 10 or 15 years to get to this country legally.

TANCREDO:
I'll tell you another thing about guest worker programs. Guest worker programs is an insult to every American: that they are only coming for jobs no American will take. Right?
Well, really what they are saying is--they are coming for jobs that no American will take for the price I can get an illegal alien to perform the job for. That's the real issue. So, no more guest worker. We don't need it. We certainly don't need amnesty.

Amnesty is not the answer, nor are guest workers

While legal immigration is good for America, illegal immigration hurts our economy and strains our public services. Amnesty is not the answer, nor are "guest workers."
We need Citizens who want to become part of our nation, learn English and contribute to the economy. I will crack down on businesses that hire - and exploit - illegal labor. We must protect our borders and enforce our laws.

Source: Campaign website, cox2008.com
Jul 2, 2007

We need to seal our borders, but don't bash immigrants

Even while he makes plenty of noise about the need to seal our borders, the corrupt Mexican government, and a crackdown on businesses that hire illegals, he will not set his hair on fire by becoming a pandering immigrant-basher--he points to fellow
GOP hopeful Tom Tancredo as an example. "I refuse to lower myself," says Cox. "I'm a businessman. I've got clients. I'm not going to make myself out to be a buffoon."

12 million illegal immigrants need to leave

Q: Do you believe the Bill of Rights protects illegal immigrants? Do you support deportation for every immigrant in the United States illegally?

A: People illegally in our country should not be here. While the career politicians dithered,
12 million cheated their way into the country. They need to leave. You don't need to deport them--just end their ability to find work. Crack down on illegal employment and they will leave on their own and we will just have to deport the few that remain.
That would be the most compassionate thing we could do for the countries they came from. Hopefully, after tasting the freedom and economic vitality of the US, they will go home and replace the governments they have so they, too,
can enjoy that same economic vitality and freedom in their home countries. That is real compassion, not the fake compassion of the open borders crowd, who are just enabling corrupt governments like Mexico to maintain their corrupt practices.

Source: Interview with "Small Government Times"
Mar 6, 2007

Don't reward illegal behavior with social programs

Q: Do you believe illegal immigrants should be covered under our nation's social entitlement programs?

A: Illegal means breaking the law and that behavior should not be rewarded. That seems clear to me as it does to millions of
Americans, with the exception of a few career politicians, who just want to keep getting re-elected.